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Justice News

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of North Dakota

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

West Fargo Man Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography

FARGO - U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on June 5, 2013, Mark Robert Perry of West Fargo, N.D., was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson on a charge of possession of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Perry, 53, pleaded guilty on March 11, 2013, to the charge.

Judge Erickson sentenced Perry to 71 months’ imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release. Perry was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victim's Fund.

This case came to attention of law enforcement on March 6, 2012, after a North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent discovered that Perry was trading child pornography files online.

The incidents occurred between Nov. 11, 2011, and March 2, 2012, in the District of North Dakota.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the West Fargo Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.